Digestive tract

Pesticide Exposure Alters Bacterial Diversity in the Mouth (Beyond Pesticides, December 6, 2016) A new study released by researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle finds that exposure to organophosphate insecticides is associated with changes in oral bacterial diversity, particularly for exposed farmworkers. The study provides insight into the far-reaching changes pesticide exposure can cause to the human body, which are not captured by current risk assessment models used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although past research has investigated the impact of pesticide exposure on the gut microbiome, this is one of the first studies to look at oral bacterial diversity...Scientists focused on exposure to the organophosphate insecticide Azinphos-methyl (AZM), which at the time of the study (2005-2006) had not begun its cancellation proceedings...Of the farmworkers that have detectable levels of AZM in their blood stream, scientists found “significantly reduced abundances of seven common taxa of oral bacteria, including Streptococcus, one of the most common normal microbiota in the mouth,” ... Researchers found that while reductions in bacterial diversity start in the heavy pesticide use season of spring/summer, they remain low into the winter. SNAP Comment: The last allowed retail sale of Azinphos-methyl in Canada is dated on the label as 2011-12-31. Chlorpyrifos has also been found to cause dysbiosis in several areas of the digestive tract. There are still 29 Chlorpyrifos products registered in Canada. It is disappointing that studies take so long to be published. It is likely that other pesticides have the same effects.

Parkinson's linked to gut bacteria (Robert Ferris, CNBC, 1 December 2016) The scientists published their findings Thursday in the journal Cell. 'The germ-free mice were still overproducing alpha-synuclein, but their brain cells were not accumulating the protein. The germ-free mice showed fewer symptoms and performed better on a series of motor skills tests meant to model the kinds of tests given to human patients.' More experiments determined that what gut flora produces affects the development of Parkinson's. SNAP Comments: Several pesticides and other toxins have been linked to Parkinson's in the past. Now we also know from research that some pesticides, including glyphosate, affect the health of gut bacteria, usually suppressing good flora and promoting bad. The effects of a pesticide on gut flora are not required tests for pesticide registration. Of course use of antibiotics and what one eats is also important, but remember that people eating conventional food ingest several pesticides on a daily basis. Evidence is accumulating that gut flora is extremely important to the maintenance of health and the development of many diseases. I sincerely hope that more pesticide and toxins regularly found in our environment start being tested for their effect on gut flora. That research would provide a mechanism of action.

Rats fed GM stacked-trait maize developed leaky stomachs (GM Watch, 09 July 2018) The study lasted twice as long as industry studies ( 6 months) and the control rats were fed a non-gmo diet. 'Drs Zdziarski and Carman said, "Joining together all the adverse findings into a single severity score, we found that the rats on the GM diet had a score that was 33% higher than rats on the non-GM diet. The changes we saw are closest to those seen with chemical gastropathy (also called reactive gastritis), caused by chemical irritants, such as aspirin, damaging the lining of the stomach."' also filed under gmos /safety

Glyphosate Implicated in Fatty Liver Disease (Beyond Pesticides, January 11, 2017) Ultra-low doses of glyphosate formulations fed to rats is linked to an increased likelihood of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to a recently published study in the journal Nature.

Kidney, Liver Damage Linked to Chronic, Low-Dose Glyphosate Exposure(Beyond Pesticides, September 1, 2015) 'Levels of exposure tested in the recent study are far below what EPA sets as the maximum contaminate level (MCL) in drinking water throughout the U.S. While rats in the study were chronically exposed to .1 parts per billion Roundup concentrations, EPA allows 700 parts per billion. The agency notes that “some people who drink water containing glyphosate in excess of the MCL over many years could experience problems with their kidneys or reproductive disorders.” ' More on glyphosate.